Polar Opposites

I realize I may look back on this post in the months to come and laugh my tuckus off, but as for right now Abbi and Keevia are complete and utter polar opposites.

Abrielle was SO active in utero, and now that she's out she is the calmest, quietest baby EVER. She cries when she's getting a diaper change (sometimes) and occasionally when some gas crosses her stomach... but other than that, she makes little whimper noises. Keevia screamed. Constantly. Our entire hour and a half car ride home from the hospital was a complete scream fest with Keevia, while Abrielle NEVER MADE A SOUND.

Keevia is super long waisted, with short(er) legs (and a honking huge head). Abrielle has a normal sized torso and looooooooooooong legs (and long fingers and long toes)(and a huge honking head).

I can put Abrielle in the bouncer awake, and she will fall asleep. To date, (I'm not even joking here people) excluding a very few rides in the swing, Keevia has fallen asleep outside of someones arms TWICE. Both of those times were watching TV. She did FINALLY learn how to fall asleep in the car after she hit 6 months, but those first 6 months had me singing to her, rocking the carseat... basically doing anything I could to get her to sleep.

Abrielle sleeps like her father (read: the dead), Keevia sleeps like me (read: any noise within a 1 mile radius can wake her up).

Keevia took a pacifier (voraciously) from day one. Abrielle will (sometimes) take one in the car, or in the middle of the night when she doesn't really want to nurse but has that need to suck.

Keevia nursed every hour to every hour and a half. Abrielle nurses every 2-3 hours (this may have something to do with the fact that I nurse them differently. I didn't ever do ten minutes on side A then switch to side B for the remainder of the feeding with Abbi. I offer one breast, let her nurse as long as she wants, burp her, then offer the second breast if she wants it. If not, I start the next feeding on the second breast. I had oversupply issues/milk imbalance issues with Keevia, and I think a good bit of the screaming she did was because of belly ache).

Keevia wouldn't let ANYONE but CLOSE family hold her from day 1. Abrielle could care less who has her as long as Mommy gets her back to nurse.

All in all, Abbi seems to just be a calmer baby. I've said numerous times in the (*SOB*) almost two weeks she has been here that I didn't realize how high maintenance of a baby Keevia was until I had Abbi. I could NEVER have considered laying Keevia in a bouncy seat and taking a shower, and with Abbi I would have zero qualms about it. And it's not just a second time mother thing, it's totally a child's temperament thing!

I can't wait to see how Abrielle grows and changes... like I said, I could be laughing in a few months!

Keevia's funnies of the week

I don't have the energy to post the other posts I have planned in my head. K has been sick since Christmas night and I'm dead on my feet. She's up right now (at 1:43 am) after puking all over the wall beside our bed... so I thought I'd write down these little funnies to keep me going.

Carl was laying on the couch in just his PJ pants. Keevia came up to him and pointed to his chest and said "What's this?" He responded with "Daddy's booby" She then pointed to his nipple and said "What's this?" and he said "Daddy's nipple." She kind of squeezed it a little, then walked away. He then began talking to me about how she would now need therapy, etc. She came back a moment later with a bottle nipple she's been playing with for a few weeks and laid it gently on his nipple. We DIED laughing.

Keevia threw up all over her bed and herself late last night (after 10pm). My mom (who lives beside me) has always told me that if I need her at night, to call. Carl usually has to be up at 5 am, but since Mom and I are both "stay-at-home" people, we can sleep in if need be. I basically have the best mother in the world. Anyway. As I was stripping her off in the bathroom, trying to get her in the bathtub, and she was screaming every breath, I called Mom and said 'I need you.' So she headed over (literally two minutes away). I had K in the bathtub, hosing her off when she walked in. Keevia (who HATES to throw up) was screaming BLOODY MURDER every breath, but when Mamaw walked in, she never stopped screaming, but she raised her little hand and waved. So adorable, and so funny.

Keevia started off the week of sickness with a stomach virus on Christmas day. She would throw up, be screaming, and go "I sawwie, I sawwie, I sawwie". She was so miserable, but she was still worried she was upsetting us.

I have the best toddler in the world.

Please keep her in your prayers. Not only that she gets over this sinus infection she has right now quickly, but also because she has another boil forming. If you don't remember, or didn't follow us then, she had to have outpatient surgery at 18 months to have a non-MRSA boil drained. They told us she was much more likely to get another one, and she did. It's in a different place, but still in her diaper area. I plan on hardcore trying to potty train her once she gets over the fever/sinus infection thing to try and reduce the wet/moist area, and we're trying some home remedies (oregano oil, tea tree oil, etc). Plus they put her on Bactrim today for both the sinuses and her boil. Just pray it comes to a head and we can drain it, and that it requires NO surgery to do so. It was literally the WORST day of my life last time, I'd rather not repeat it. Pray and pray hard, PLEASE!!!

Alright, going to snuggle my sniffly baby now. Babywearing & Hairbow review post coming SOON. Promise.

The Evolution of Co-Sleeping

I'm sure I've mentioned it here before that before Keevia was born, I was completely against bedsharing. Carl mentioned when I was pregnant about bringing her in bed with us, and I always said "No way! We'll smother her!" I looked down my nose at the parents who did so, thinking how horrifically unsafe they were being with their children.

Then, when I was pregnant, I stumbled across a parenting board on TheBump.com. I'd never heard of Attachment Parenting before, and I quickly googled the term. Other than some differences when it comes to discipline, I found myself agreeing with everything my searches turned up.

So I began haunting that board, and I soon found that a good majority of the people on there purposefully bedshared from birth. I had always planned to co-sleep, and had purchased a Arms Reach Mini Co-Sleeper at a yardsale, and received the Baby Trend Gabriella Playard from my Mom. Both made co-sleeping very easy, as the baby was RIGHT there, but I was still against baby being in bed with me.

At this point in our lives, Carl and I were living in an apartment in the big city, and spending a good bit of our time at my parents house. We had a queen size bed in our apartment, but a full-size bed at my parents. As I progressed in my pregnancy, Carl began sleeping in a different bedroom so as not to squish the baby in my belly.

After I gave birth, Carl wasn't comfortable with me spending time at our apartment alone (he worked from 3am-1pm, and had to go to bed by about 6-7pm), and insisted I stay with my parents for the first few weeks.

Keevia was so tiny and perfect, but there was one little problem. She didn't want to sleep unless I was holding her. Which was fantastic during the day because I couldn't bear to put her down, but at night she wouldn't settle in her co-sleeper very well. And when it came to nursing at night, I was still convinced I had to sit up to feed her (trying to figure out latch and all), but I found myself falling asleep sitting up.

Then one night, I gave up, pulled out my iPod and searched for Dr. Sears bedsharing safety checklist. With a little bit of moving and shuffling, I had my bed set up and I laid down with her. She stayed asleep, and I slept lightly.

As I got more confident, both with bedsharing and breastfeeding, I began just nursing on one side for several hours, the rolling with Keevia and nursing on the other side for several hours. I always started her off in the co-sleeper, and would get 1-3 hours of alone sleep before she came in bed with me. Once we went back to the apartment (although we didn't spend much time there, we moved home when Keevia was about 2 months old, and didn't spend much time at the apartment once she was born), I was a little nervous adding Carl to the mix, but I stuck to the bedsharing rules, and always kept my arm around her when she had to be in the middle to nurse.

As a result, I was never sleep deprived. She slept great, and even on her restless or fussy nights, she settled quickly. Around 4 months she started the dreaded Four Month Wakeful and was just, well, AWAKE from 4-6am. Some nights I put her in her bouncer in front of Seasame Street and she would drift back to sleep. Bad parenting? Maybe... but we both got sleep and were both happy, so I don't really regret it. The first time sleep deprivation got me was when she got her first cold at 6 months. By that time we had moved into our new house (which is next door to my parents) and there were 2-3 nights where she barely slept (stupid stuffy nose). At this point, with a six month old, I finally understood the sleep deprivation that non-bedsharing parents felt.

Keevia and I basically spent the first six months of her life in bed by ourselves. We fit well in a full size bed, and were quite comfortable most nights. As she got older, her first stretch of solo sleep got longer and longer. By the time we moved in our house, and began sharing a bed with her daddy again, there were nights when she was sleeping through the night in her co-sleeper, or only waking at 4-6 am.

At this point, however, she roused very easily. If I had a cold and a cough she would wake up every time I coughed. If you got up to go to the bathroom, she woke up. Carl was now working 5 days a week, having to be at work at 5am. His alarm would usually start going off at 2 am. She was not amused. Even when she came in bed with us, she would still toss and turn until her would finally get up, or we would move to the guest room. I put off moving her into her own room as long as I could, because I wasn't ready for it.

Around nine months we started putting her in her crib in her room. We left the co-sleeper in our room however. She would still nurse maybe once a night, but she was probably sleeping through the night 4 nights out of 7. If she woke up, it was no big deal, we just brought her into our bed.

We kept up this routine, having her start off in our bed occasionally, but sticking to the crib. Around one year I began having to lay down with her to get her to sleep, but I would always move her to her crib once she was asleep. Around 13 months she got her first (and only!) ear infection, as well as a case of bronchitis. Her cough (and the plegm in her throat) were so bad that she'd get choked and end up throwing up, sometimes several times a night. Carl deemed it unacceptable for her to sleep by herself (which I agreed) so we moved to the guest room for close to a month. It was a slow weaning process to get her from 100% of night time with mommy back to her crib, but we did it.

At 18 months we changed her crib into a toddler bed, and since that time, she simply comes padding into our room whenever she wakes up. Sometimes it's 1am, most of the time its 6 or 7. I love snuggling with her, and we never put her back in her bed once she wakes up. If she's sick, or scared (we've dealt with some night terrors the last two months), she may stay in our bed the majority of the night. We just go with it. We ended up purchasing a King size bed back in June/July, once we decided we wanted to get pregnant again, because we knew we'd soon be sharing the bed with two babies, not just one.

Some nights its frustrating. I sleep better when she's not in our bed (mainly because she likes to lay on top of me, or play with my cleavage, or simply lay THIS close to my back), and some nights I honestly just don't want to sleep with her... but I always remember HOW GOOD it felt to go running into my parents room, and to climb up in bed between them. I automatically felt safe, warm, happy and content. All bad-dreams went away, all fears disappeared. It wasn't a nightly occurrence with me, but I always knew that it was an option. I want Keevia (and baby girl#2) to feel the same way.

I don't really know how we'll manage once our newborn comes into the sleeping mix, but I'm sure we'll manage. Currently, Keevia is sleeping on a twin size mattress on the floor of her bedroom, and if necessary, we'll just move that mattress in our room for a while. I fully, FULLY believe that babies will learn to sleep on their own, but that each baby is different, and each on has their own night-time needs. I won't ever get these times back with my babies, and I don't want to have any regrets. As of yet, I don't, at least when it comes to my night-time parenting. I look forward to nursing this new girl, and snuggling with her late at night. Bedsharing isn't for everyone, and I realize that, but for our family, it's how we get through the nights.

Want more information? Dr. Sears has some awesome information on Co-Sleeping here, including studies he did on the breathing patterns of a co-sleeping newborn!

I'm totally going to jinx myself... (sleep post!)

About two weeks ago we moved a twin mattress into Keevia's room and put it on the floor. That night she climbed up on it, laid down, said night night and closed her eyes. I asked her if she wanted me to lay down with her and she said no. She went to sleep that night by herself in her dark room. And the next day for naptime. And the next night. And the night after that. No tears.

I was in SHOCK. This is the child I have to snuggle to sleep, that usually takes from 20 minutes to over an hour. We put the twin bed in so I could lay down with her and then get up when she fell asleep (usually goes faster than me rocking her in the living room).

The 4th night we went to my husbands parents and spent the night. I laid down with Keevs and got her to sleep in the room we sleep in. She went down easy, but slept really poorly that night.

The next night we were back home, and when I suggested she go to bed, she started screaming. I ended up rocking her to sleep that night and several nights after. A few times she fell asleep sitting up in my lap. Then I started laying back down with her.

I don't know if she was scared of her bed, or her room, or whatever, but even with me laying down with her she would scream. Now, as I'm sure you all know that I am VERY against cry-it-out when it comes to baby (BABY as in 2-6 month old baby) being in a room by themselves, in the dark, "teaching" themselves to soothe to sleep. I've never been against in-arms crying however, and we've done it numerous times over the past two years. Laying down with her, with her sobbing, is the same to me as me holding her and her crying. So for about two to three nights, I laid down and had her cry for 5-10 minutes until she gave up and decided Mommy meant business and it was bedtime. She'd then drift off to sleep. The 4th night there was no crying.

Night 5 I tucked her in, and then sat at her feet. Crying started again, I soothed her, talked to her, sang to her, and 15ish minutes later she FINALLY calmed down, then fell asleep a few minutes later. Night 6 she cried for about 5 or so minutes, then went on down. Night before last she cried for a minute or two, wanting me to lay down with her. I kept telling her I was sitting at her feet and wouldn't move til she fell asleep. She went down pretty easy. Last night I told her it was bedtime and she set off for her bedroom. I went to fill up her sippy and she popped her head out of bedroom door and said "C'mon Mommy!" I told her to go climb up in bed and I'd be right there. When I went in, she was snuggled on her pillow. No tears. I stayed in there 5-10 minutes, then I told her night-night and went in the living room. She drifted off on her own.

I plan on keeping it up... we're doing so well right now, and I'm so happy about it. I honestly won't do anything different with number two. The only reason I made a push for getting her to go to sleep on her own is that my back cannot take packing her 28lb dead weight, especially with a burgeoning belly. I didn't figure we'd be going to sleep on our own quite yet, but I'm pleased with it!

Now to just tackle potty-learning!

The one where I stuff toys down my bra....

I'm posting about Blair a lot today, but y'all, she's hilarious. She recently wrote a post about toy scalping. You should read it. In the post (if you're lazy and don't want to read it....)she talks about her sons attachment to a stuffed monkey, and her desperate search for a standin monkey, you know, in case monkey ever bit the dust.

She found one. On Ebay. For $75. Yeeks.

I wrote this little bit of wisdom on her blog:
"I WISH my child would take a lovey. At this point I would pay $75 for her to! Her lovey is my boobs. I’m not joking. Her hand shoots down my shirt whenever she’s tired, feels stressed, is hurt… ANYTHING. And she has to rub them to go to sleep. We’re working on going to sleep on her own in her crib, and I currently have to pull my bra off, lean over, pull my shirt down so my boobs are exposed, and let her rub them to go to sleep. We’re trying to get pregnant… I don’t think haulin’ a pregnant belly over the crib railing is going to work."

And y'all, I so would. We're almost weaned (yes, don't worry, a post is coming about that later), but she has to rub my boobs to fall asleep. She worries them just like some kids worry a lovie. If she's sleeping with me, that's what she goes to to comfort herself. It doesn't usually bother me, but when it takes her upwards of 45 minutes to fall asleep... I think I'm going to scream.

Plus, we really are trying to get her to go to sleep in her own crib. We're currently waiting on the 6-7 teeth she has coming through to show themselves though, because, well, that's just mean.

Meet "TipTop" which is obviously going to need a new name soon.

I have decided that this is going to be Keevia's lovie. I scored it on Amazon for like $7 (I was trying to get my free super saver shipping, as I stupidly let my Amazon Mom Prime run-out, LAME!).

I'm going to be desperate about this y'all. I'm going to sleep on her sheets. I'm going to stuff this little fellow down my bra and make a BIG DEAL about it when it gets here. I'm praying she takes to it. She loves her pacifier and her Mommy. I want her to love a stuffed animal as well.

So yes. I'm desperate. I will stuff random things down my bra for them to have that magic momma scent. I would crawl into her crib if I thought it would help. Or, you know, if I thought I could get back out.

Anyone have any ideas for a name for this thing?

My poor girl...

My poor sweet girl. This is how I'm seeing her a lot today.

We've been having sleep problems for a while now. Absolutely fighting going down like it's no ones business. I've been miserable, questioning my parenting choices... questioning, well, everything. She would usually (not always) sleep once she went to sleep, but getting her to sleep was a war. Finally we discovered that Daddy can get her to sleep much easier than me. For whatever reason. So we're going with it.

Last night she was SO fussy. I knew she was overtired, but she was just unconsoleable. My mom was holding her, and I happened to glance in her mouth (as she was screaming, I might add).

Low and behold... I see that her molars. MOLARS are swollen. Now, this may not be a big deal for most parents of 16 month olds... but my kid and teething are kind of different. She didn't get her first tooth until she was 1 year, 10 days old. Then she got three. Right now she has 6 teeth. Three on the bottom (two bottom middle, bottom right) and three on the top (same configuration). Her fourth "front" tooth is coming through on the top. Her bottom "front" tooth has no inclination of coming in. Like, at all. But whatever.

So, I was shocked that her molars were swollen. Then, I examined closer.

Her molars aren't just swollen. Her bottom molars, bottom eye teeth, top eye teeth, and possibly her top molars are all swollen. Y'all, that is 8 teeth. AND she still hasn't gotten that top front tooth through.

My poor, poor girl.

We gave her Tylenol last night, and she slept from 11pm-5am in her crib, then came in bed with me until 9am. It was blissful.

So, I expect we'll be doing a lot of this for a while, and I'm okay with it.

Baby snuggles are my favorite.

My New Parenting Philosophy

If anyone gets the "New Philosophy" reference, you automatically get 5,000 cool points.

I have a rather unique parenting style. Well, not really. I have a rather.... relaxed parenting style. Hence why I call my parenting philosophy "Relaxed Parenting". Catchy name, eh?

I do a lot of things that are considered "AP" (Attachment Parenting), but I can't get myself completely behind their discipline techniques (although I do implement a lot of them). I don't do CIO (Cry it out) for bedtime. I'm still (barely) breastfeeding at 16 months. I wear my baby whenever we're out and about, and a good bit at the house as well. I fully believe that an attached baby is going to be healthier and happier.

That being said? I've barely scanned my attachment parenting books. I don't know the theories and the reasonings behind why I do what I do. I do what I do because it works for me.

In fact, I've barely read any parenting books at all. Let me rephrase that, I haven't read any parenting books. I've checked Dr. Sears 'The Baby Book' occasionally to make sure my daughter is on track developmentally, but other than that? Yeah, no. Haven't read anything.

Does that make me a bad parent? Maybe. But if you meet my daughter, you would probably think differently. Other than being a little bashful at first, she is friendly, outgoing, well behaved, talkative, sharing, and genuinely a lot of fun to be around. Not that I'm the least bit prejudiced mind you.

I just go with the flow. If she's up until midnight one night? We try to get up a little earlier the next morning. If she's up til midnight two nights in a row? We change our bedtime routine. If she's up to midnight three nights in a row? We head to the chiropractor.

If she falls down? I pick her back up. I'm very much a "non-panic" momma. I distinctively remember, when she was JUST learning to walk, that she face-planted while we were at my in-laws. She started SCREAMING, but I could tell it was a mad scream, not a "I hurt something and now my world is ending" scream, so I just picked her up, snuggled her a second, and put her right back down going "You're okay!". My mother-in-law said something like "You're so relaxed! You didn't even panic!" and I responded with "Well, she face-plants all the time". She's right, I just don't panic.

Now, let me rephrase that. That doesn't mean that I don't EVER panic. But honestly? Looking back over the last almost sixteen months? I've really only panicked three times. First time was at 9 weeks when my daughter decided to roll off the bed. THANK GOD my mom is an RN. Second time was one of the many times she has choked on a piece of food, it wasn't really any worse than all the other times she has choked, but it scared me for some reason. Third time was when she had this whole bronchitis thing going on, and she was in her carseat crying, and threw up. I didn't even really panic when she got a stomach virus at Christmas, but I'm told that's because I didn't see her choke the first time she threw up.

My parenting mantra these days seems to be simple 'It's okay!'. Because it is. Spilled milk, strewn crunchies, poopy diapers, piled up toys, bruised knees, snotty noses... it's all part of being a kid, and all part of being a mom. Freaking out about it isn't going to help anything. I don't want my daughter to be high-strung. I want her to be go-with-the-flow. I gave her enough stress hormones during pregnancy, fearful of another miscarriage. I don't need to keep up the stressful environment.

So I still breastfeed, I still have her rear-facing, I wear my baby, I still co-sleep, I don't have a set bedtime, I don't have a set naptime, I cloth diaper and disposable diaper, I teach her signs, I teach her potty learning, I teach her to share.

And I don't read parenting books.

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I linked up to Serenity Now's Weekly Bloggy Read!

Rehash

In the past, I've blogged about not being enough. I've blogged about trying to be the best mom I can be. I've blogged about how being a mom isn't easy. I don't really want to rehash those tonight.

But I'm still feeling that way. My dishes are piled up. There are two laundry baskets of clean clothes to be put away in my bedroom. I had to fight with Miss Priss for an hour to get her to go to sleep.

I know that I am enough. I know that I am loved. I know that, at some point, every mother feels what I'm going through.

I've noticed that whenever I post these posts, or I begin to feel this way, is when I have to fight Keevia over sleep. Over the months, she has usually been a great sleeper. Sometimes it's just the GETTING to sleep that's the issue.

Usually Carl can give me a breather, but tonight he's sick. So he's not handling the baby much. She had been doing SO WELL laying down with Mommy. She'd even go to my bed and go "Night night?" But the past couple of days she just wants to pop up into a sitting position every few seconds, and then crawl (well, her version of crawl, which really looks like a beached whale) all over the bed, until finally she'd collapse from exhaustion. Last night I couldn't take it anymore (after 40 minutes mind you), got up, strapped her in the mei tei carrier, and started making cinnamon rolls from scratch.

She was asleep in five minutes.

I don't know how they manage it, but little ones can find the one way to frustrate you in almost any situation. I was all "YAY!!! She's asleep!!" While simultaneously "OH. MY. GOSH. Are you KIDDING me?" that it took all of five minutes.

So tonight, I was just done. I was so frustrated with her fighting sleep so much, that I sat in my chair in the living room and rocked her for an hour-hour and a half. She screamed probably 75% of the time. I'm not okay with CIO (alone, in a room by themselves) but I am okay with in-arms crying. Mainly because she's just pissed, and I'm there comforting her, and meeting her needs. I rocked, sang, gave her her sippy, paci, sang, rocked... etc. She finaaaaaaaaaaaaally gave it up and went down.

She has two teeth coming through, which I know is part of the problem. I'm trying to get through these teeth one day at a time, and I'll reassess when we get through them.

I'm fighting to not feel upset. To not feel inadequate. Every parent has rough days, and every parent has struggles. I'm choosing to look at the bright side. She's sleeping now, and I had enough time to change over the laundry.

Maybe tomorrow I'll tackle the clean clothes.

Oops...

I'm sure I've blogged about my love affair with chiropractors before. I seriously wouldn't be walking if it wasn't for them. Seriously. My chiropractor was in the hospital room with us when we gave birth, and adjusted Keevia for the first time when she was about 30 minutes old. Since that time, we've been seeing her a couple of times a month. I SWEAR her adjustments are why she sleeps so well!

So, we took her to the chiropractor today for a routine check up. She wasn't showing too many signs, but her pelvis was still out a little, and her occipital was as well. She was adjusted both ways, without any tears this time! We made it home, and, amazingly she went to sleep in Mamaw's lap. We laid her on Mamaw's bed (which we've done for months) and blocked her in with pillows.

Fast forward two hours. Without hearing a peep from her to show she'd woken up, we suddenly hear this loud THUMP followed by a pissed off baby. We ran in, Mom examined her quickly (SUCH a benefit having a nurse as a mommy!) and she said she was fine. I picked her up and snuggled her close. She proceeded to pull away and yell at the dog, so I'm sure she's fine.

She's a little staggery, but we can't seem to see any other problems. I think we'll be going back to the chiropractor soon though, just to be sure.

And we really were going to try to get her back in her crib tonight!

Time

I feel like a horrible blogger, and an even worse memory keeper.

But my days aren't lazy and carefree. I sometimes don't know where the time goes, but I'm lucky if I have time to check my email.

I'm starting up an internet business though, (see the facebook page on the left?) and hope to etch out more time for blogging and such. Keevia was sick this past week, which left very, very little time to do much of anything.

She's still doing this super annonying 9 month wakeful thing....she doesn't nap well AT ALL, she goes down fine after her bath, but wakes up 30 minutes to an hour later and is bright eyed and bushy tailed for oh, about an hour or more, and then goes back to sleep and sleeps through the night.

Weird, but not unmanageable.

We're getting into the groove of things more.... I can walk now (yay!), and I've been particularly trying to etch out time for housework. I'm trying to keep my dishes clean (something Carl does for me a lot, but he tried to cut off his finger recently...), the laundry caught up, and my floors not cruddy. Carl helps me out a LOT, and I am ever so thankful for him.

We celebrated two wonderful years of marriage on July 26th. I think we're honestly better now than we've ever been.

I have some ADORABLE pictures of Miss Priss to put up soon, but I don't have a camera cord right now... so they'll have to wait.

Everytime I feel guilty about my blog, or my photography, for the stack of dishes in the sink, I strive to remember that poem...

I hope that my child, looking back on today
Will remember a mother who had time to play;
Because children grow up while you're not looking,
There are years ahead for cleaning and cooking.
So, quiet now cobwebs, dust go to sleep.
I'm nursing my baby, and babies don't keep.

Too soon?

Keevia has been asleep since around 9 o'clock tonight. This is the first night, in, oh, 2 1/2 weeks where she hasn't used her bedtime as a nap time. She had been going down fine, but waking up 45 minutes to an hour later, and then being up for an hour or so, and then finally going back down around 11-1. Tiring. But, after a trip to the chiropractor today, and an adjustment, she has been asleep for over 2 hours! Woohoo!

She hadn't been down horribly long when Carl plopped his rather large book from the couch to the floor.

"Are you TRYING to wake her up?" I asked, glaring at him as only a Mom who has been rocking an overtired, frustrated, whiny baby for close to three weeks can glare.

"No! Sometimes I forget we have a kid." He replied. I laughed, he laughed, and then he turned serious.

"You know, everyone keeps asking me if I think we had her too soon. They ask if I regret having had her this early... do you?"

I didn't even have to think about my answer, a solid, resounding no.

Yes, financially, we had a baby too soon. We were in college when we got pregnant. Carl still had several years to go (as he wasn't the best student material). I was in my senior year. We struggled, and wouldn't have made it through his month of unemployment if it hadn't been for my parents. But things worked themselves out.

Now we have a mortgage (instead of rent!), student loans, no credit card debt, and month to month bills.

I admit, it's tight. And if we hadn't gotten pregnant, I could have a full time job as well, working at a library, or a school, or as a waitress even (I LOVED working at Cracker Barrel!). We could have two full time incomes instead of one. We might not have salvation army furniture, and be living so tight, but we also wouldn't have the absolute light of our lives.

This month is super tight, due mainly to poor planning, yet we'll make it. I know we will, because God always provides, and things always work themselves out. I can't even imagine my life without my sweet, sweet baby girl. So we have salvation army furniture, and so we don't get the latest movies. We have each other, we have a roof over our heads, and we have food to fill our bellies. What more dare I ask for?

Update

We're in our house :)

We're still unpacking :(

Keevia is running a low grade (99.1) temperature, and we believe she has an eye infection.

She weighed 15.5 lbs at her 6 month check up, and was 26 1/2 inches long. SHe's 25%-50% in weight, 50-75% for height, and her head circumference is off the charts.

Mom's life is CRAZY right now. She's running to Lexington once to twice a week with various family members/friends to take them to various doctors appointments/surgeries. This makes MY life crazy because I have Keevia full time during the day... plus I'm usually cooking for my Dad, Hubs, etc. And I never seem to be near (or in the same house as) a computer when she naps!

Keevs has started going down at bedtime (8:30ishPM) and getting back up an hour later, being fussy and restless, and FINALLY falling asleep around 11. I'm EXHAUSTED because this was always my relax time... and my clean time.

Separation anxiety has set in. BIG time.

And she's fussing like CRAZY right now, so I better go.

I promise, I'm going to try to get back to 4-5 posts a week. I miss the outlet, and I really miss not recording her little minutes!

MIA

I know I'm MIA.

I really don't want to be.

My daughter hasn't been sleeping well... although, after a chiropractic adjustment, she is today!!! She had been waking an hour after going down for the night, and then staying awake for 2-3 hours. We've also had some stress with my Dad getting sick, but he's getting better, and we at least know its not serious!

Also, two of my uncles have had surgeries in the last two weeks, and my Mom has taken both of them to Lexington for the operations... leaving me at home, alone, with the wee babe... trying to do laundry, dishes, and deal with the workmen.

Oh, what's that? What workmen?

I'll tell you.

The main reason I've not been blogging though?

MY HOUSE IS ALMOST DONE!

Carl and I purchased a double-wide house on April 19th, it was set last Friday, and this week they've been doing various other things. They installed the septic system today, as well as finishing fixing the drywall/sheetrock (are they the same things?), framed the doors, and repainted all the places the sheetrock had cracked.

We are SO freaking close... yet we're still so far away. It's driving us crazy. It's literally like 25 feet away from us... and we can't be IN it. Yet.

Hopefully the water and such will be hooked up tomorrow, the siding will be finished...then we're just waiting on electric and for them to put on the underpinning. It's coming along! As soon as they get everything out of our bedroom (which has been the central location for all the supplies), I'm going to paint it, and then start moving stuff in.

It has been a total God thing right from the start. The price was one we could afford for a HECK of a house. It's 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, full dry wall, nice kitchen, working wood fireplace... it's everything we wanted!

On top of that, today I got offered all the brick we would need for temporary steps. That saves us, oh, about $60.

Also, while we were shopping for baby food and cereal yesterday, I managed to get 3 gallons of paint. I paid $5 for the paint to paint my bedroom, $7 for the paint to paint my kitchen/dining room (under the chair rail) and $9 for a accent wall in Keevia's room. I AM SO FREAKING HAPPY.

I promise, daily blogs will be soon.

Smoochies!